"Miss Kirin, you have been quiet since the Narukh'za helped" Carlos was first to notice and give attention. "Ah, you know. Just trying to think about everything that happened..." Kirin finally found time to ponder every scenario they went in. The sudden appearance of Zakana on the sands, the second Loyalist asking for their assistance, seeing her mysterious power, seeing her Great Bastion, and seeing unrecognized Zakana on the way home.
"We wouldn't make it back here if those D'eagles haven't appeared. Do you have any idea what the Second Loyalist is scheming here?" Carlos said as he watched their base slowly close by. "We wouldn't be even seeing those new Zakana if they wanted to lure us into that outpost" Kirin scratched her head. "This is too much to digest for me..." She relaxes in her seat. "Do you think... they're finally trying to come around?" Carlos took a wild guess, which caught her attention. "Possibly, but the Narukh'za on the other planet are still hostile... The Second Loyalist..."
Kirin crossed her arms and lightly stomps on the floor. "Any Loyalist won't disobey Kantala. She won't try a half-assed effort to say that she wants her empire to have a complete ceasefire with us" She kept on thinking. "She's not an idiot either. She is aware of our laws and will stop all aggression if she considers us as their ally" "Maybe she's being overcautious?" Kirin looked at Carlos curiously. "You know, it takes time to mobilize your army to initiate missions out there in the field. If things went south, they can just return to their usual conflict with ours" He said his opinion.
"That doesn't make any sense. All of the Narukh'za know we wanted peace with them. They know we won't waste the chance of getting them on our side, meaning they have this assumption that we will agree on almost everything they say to make the peace, they won't even think of what you said if they're truly wanting to side with us!" Kirin said, getting frustrated even more. "Well, we have plenty of time to think this through at the base. Looks like they just secured the perimeter" With Carlos' words, Kirin opened her hatch and popped out.
Arkulan soldiers and armored vehicles are scattered around the base, with blood and carcasses of Zakana all over the sands. The base seems to be recently entered a calm state and is cleaning up after the attack. "Kirin?" Lonara's voice came in through her suit and a hologram of her image appeared. "Hey, cutie" Kirin winks at her. Lonara giggles. "You are just different, are you? On the way here you were on the verge of death and here you are" She placed a hand on her mouth to control her laughter. "Watching you get overrun by those wolves shortened my life, you know" She added.
"You were watching?!" Kirin raised her brows in surprise. Lonara nods. "Yes, but it was all blurry, that adds up to my fear. The Ravens are somehow interrupting the signals and I couldn't get a hold of calling you" She said. "So glad you came back in one piece, friend" Lonara took a deep sigh of relief. "Yeah, I'm glad none of us is hurt. Things got wild" Kirin closed her eyes and relaxes her body.
"We can talk in my office. You can bring your squad if you want. See you" With that, Lonara dropped the call. Confirming Lonara's situation, Kirin checked in on her own squad. "We're fine, Miss Kirin! Well..." Niela looked around and saw Terra shaking. "I'm... I'm fine!" Terra shook both of her hands. "I'm just a little shook, I mean, I thought we were going to die, you know!" She said with a shivering voice. "And how are you guys not scared?! We were going to die!" She noticed that she was the only one who looked shaken up.
The others didn't respond and looked away. They are as scared as her, but not as obvious as she was. Niela confirmed their status to Kirin and remained silent.
After a few whiles, the convoy safely entered the base and disembarked. The squad rejoins with Kirin and they went to the Gallant. "Averthos?" Kirin called out. Averthos appeared from the tank and jumps down. "I'm glad you're safe and well, Miss Kirin" He said as he dusts off his suit. "Damn, I could say the same to you! You were the one with a damaged engine in a tank with the largest cannon" Kirin lightly punched his chest. "Yes. They seem to ignore us, not even the Ravens tried to spit acid at us. Those... wolf riders didn't pay attention to the Gallant as well" Averthos said.
"They're full of surprises. We can't just get a knack of their behaviors" Kirin crossed her arms and looked at the Boar Company. Carlos is busy handling his own men, he seems to be ordering for repairing and rearming his armored vehicles. "And in the meanwhile, the rest of the Boars' armors are almost melted by the acid. I'm pretty sure they are targeting the APCs alone" Averthos noticed the burns and degradation on the armors of the vehicles. After looking at the Boars for a while, Kirin prepares to leave.
"Hey, get that girl some repairs, alright? It will take some time before we can use it back out there" Kirin admired the Gallant. "Yes. Hopefully, it won't be another Zakana hordes. We were caught in bad timing. With us deployed during these types of situations will just slow you down" Averthos replied. "Yeah... Look, Lonara is waiting for us, get yourself and your crew some rest. I won't be calling you out there for a while" Kirin pats his shoulder. "Thank you, Miss Kirin. You take care of yourselves too, alright?" Averthos waved his hands on the squad, and they waved back.
"Alright, to Lonara's office!" Kirin pointed up the main building. After walking for a few minutes, they got into an elevator. After waiting a few seconds, the elevator opens to Lonara's office. Lonara stood up from her chair and approached them as they leave the elevator. Kirin leaped for a hug to Lonara's surprise. "Oh! So glad to have you back here" She wrapped her arms around Kirin in return. "Ah... Need to sit..." Kirin let go of Lonara and walked past her, heading towards one of the sofas.
"Hello, Niela" Lonara smiled at her. "Hello, Miss Lonara" Niela shyly nods. "How did you fare out there?" Lonara asked as she led them to her desk. "Everything went fast..." Niela sat on a single sofa in front of her desk. "Look at you sitting by the desk, makes you look like you're in charge" Kirin laughs and made her flustered. "Well, she's all yours, Niela" With that, Kirin closed her eyes, sitting comfortably on the sofa with the others.
"Well?" Lonara calls Niela's attention, who was staring at Kirin. "Um... Where should I start...?" Niela looked down and thinks. "Tell me how you felt the whole time you were in the sands" Lonara leans her back on her seat, eager to listen. "We were scared the whole time" Niela scratched her head. "There were Zakana everywhere, and there's the Narukh'za" "Oh, one thing that bothers me..." She glanced back to Kirin.
"The Second Loyalist got us curious, especially Miss Kirin" Hearing her name, Kirin opened one eye to look at Niela. "We're wondering what were they thinking this whole time. Asking for our help and all that. Even I know they had all the strength to defend themselves, why would they?" Niela asked. Kirin sat properly. "That's right, they're also too prideful to randomly ask for our help at dire times. There's just too much mystery happened in this day" She said. "Oh, and I know y'all haven't forgotten that mysterious clouds that surrounded the Loyalist when she made way for us out of their outpost, explain it to her, Niela" Kirin asked her to lay out the details.
Lonara turns to Niela, waiting for her explanation. "I remember it well. After all, it is indeed mysterious... The Loyalist was... fast. She has slain every Zakana in our way in an instant, leaving dark clouds behind" Niela focused on imaging the scenario. "Fast? Care to explain?" Lonara asked. "She's teleporting!" Chirlin spoke up with her hands extended out. "When she teleports, she leaves dark mist behind! Just like from the games!" She added. Lonara caught her attention. "Teleportation? Did she have any devices with her somehow?" She asked.
"No, she has no devices. Sure as well that it isn't her suit, even the Krygs haven't found a way to do that yet" Kirin replied. They paused for a moment. "Do you think she has superpowers?" Chirlin asked. Kirin raised a brow. "Such thing only exists in movies, comics, and games!" Even though she said that they still saw her hesitation. "Then what else do you think it is? You said the Krygstek can't make teleporting suits!" Chirlin crosses her arms, brows furrowed.
"Superpowers, huh?" Lonara puts a hand on her chin. "That weapon you brought back from their outpost. The thing does not work anymore. We disassembled it and we found the red stone, or the gem" She starts telling them about the Ravager. "Again, we have no idea how it works, there are no mechanisms that are connected to that stone, aside from the buttons that are attached to small tubes that lead to the stone. It's a strange design, there's nothing that can make it fire normal ammunition either. It's just a large tube with a red stone on it" She sighed. "And we don't have the equipment to experiment with the stone either. The Krygstek might have the right tools for it though". Chirlin perks up at her words.
"Did you somehow drop it?" Kirin turned to Sterling and asked. She shook her head. "It was strapped at my back the whole time, I didn't drop it". The squad got confused as they were sure the Ravager was safely strapped. Lonara looked disappointed. "We can't do anything else about it. We assembled it again, you can have it back if you want" Lonara stood up and walked away. She disappeared into a room to their left and returned after a few seconds. She is carrying the Ravager with two hands.
"I'm not going to hide it, but it's actually heavy. I don't think I can carry that around for a long time" Sterling shyly smiled. "We will store it to Gallant's Porter then, they have plenty of space. They can just drop it down the fields if we call them" Kirin said. "Cool! We get to keep it!" Both Chirlin and Sterling got excited. "Maybe you can return it to them, like I said, it doesn't fire" Lonara put the Ravager on the floor. It stands before her. "But i was able to use it long before I took it here" Sterling stood up and approached the Ravager.
She picked it up and looked at the buttons. "Are you sure you pressed these buttons?" She asked, showing the buttons to Lonara. "Yes, we tried everything" Lonara nodded. Looking back at the Ravager, Sterling pressed the charging button and the weapon started accumulating energy. Everyone jumped in surprise as the Ravager's muzzle starts glowing. "Turn it off!" Kirin shouted, pointing her finger to the cannon.
Sterling, however, calmly turns off the cannon. "I thought it doesn't work?!" She got slightly angry. "It won't do anything unless I fire it!" She turned to Kirin and shouted. It got silent and gave Sterling some breather. "Sorry. It won't fire unless you... Press this" She showed the button that triggers the cannon. Silence filled the room once more. After a while, Kirin spoke up.
"So, we're going to bring that weapon to the Krygs? More reasons to go there!" Kirin showed her excitement, brightening up the mood. "I hope you haven't forgotten our original plan! We're going to Valorna. We start by traveling far west towards Base N6 where my fleet is stationed. Then we travel through the space with a convoy Niela decided" She reminded them of their plan, exciting them. "Perfect timing. With the Zakana's appearances, they were able to pull out the Second Loyalist. Somehow she... was friendly and now she promised the leave the sands and she will since we helped them. There shouldn't be a problem for your journey now everything's settled" Lonara smiled.
"How about the Zakana? They seem to be still roaming around when we got here" Niela asked. "They're terrified of the Narukh'za, and we saw many of their spacecraft hunting them down. We can ride along with their extermination, so you don't have to worry about it" Lonara shook her hand. "Go focus on your own plans and get out of here fast before the Second Loyalist does another talking"